When you visit Masaka sector, Kicukiro district, the change is impossible to miss. What once felt like the dusty edge of Kigali’s red-soiled hillsides, dotted with eucalyptus trees, small farms, and quiet homes, now hums with an energy that belongs to cities. Fresh tarmac climbs slopes and flatlands that once cracked under a single walker’s foot. Houses and apartment blocks perch on ridgelines that not long ago were banana plantations, fields of maize, sorghum, and beans. Mini-supermarkets, hardware shops, pharmacies, and construction-material depots line the main road, stocking all sorts of goods, from cement, paint, cooking oil, soap, diapers, and roofing nails. Motorbikes weave between pedestrians and delivery trucks. Moto taxi drivers angle for fares, picking up residents and visitors from Masaka bus park, which grows busier as the day progresses. Construction workers gather beneath mango trees for lunch, while charcoal sellers, small traders, and shopkeepers populate a scene that feels urban, busy, and alive. Across the road, trucks enter and exit the DP World dry port facility loaded with goods. ALSO READ: Masaka: Kigali's emerging 'medical city' Masaka, which straddles the road to the Eastern Province, has become more than a suburb. Located in Kicukiro district, the once rural outskirt of Kigali is quietly, unmistakably reinventing itself. Morning markets, side streets, everyday life A narrow dirt track off the main road fills with traders setting up makeshift stalls. Crates and wooden boards become tables for cassava flour, jerrycans, sacks of beans, and bundles of charcoal. Women with babies on their backs haggle over prices. By mid-morning, the stalls fade, replaced by motorcycles ferrying clients to the new medical facilities, apartments, or shops. Flora Uwera, a young business owner at Genesis Life Store supermarket, remembers the other Masaka. She moved closer to the new facilities two years ago, drawn by space, calm, and the promise of potential. ALSO READ: Eight things to know about CHUK hospital relocation “I hadn’t lived here in Masaka particularly but I used to observe the changes, the infrastructure developments and the opportunity, and we decided to come here and set up and take advantage of the developments,” she says. Though young, Uwera has seen Masaka evolve. Back in the day, going to Maskaka at night meant no streetlights, only the rustle of leaves and distant whispers of insects and wind. Services were scarce. A decent pharmacy or a hardware store was hard to come by. It meant a long trip into town or Remera for certain services. Kabuga, which is adjacent was also still developing. Neighbours asked Uwera why she had chosen to live so far out. Yet she saw signs of change: roads where new houses were popping up, more lights seen in the evening. “Now, everything is different,” Uwera says. “The open fields are gone. Apartment blocks, rental houses, shops keep rising. People are arriving, and they are staying” “My supermarket started with basics, but now we stock almost everything people need. People are living here, building here, buying here. With CHUK (University Teaching Hospital of Kigali) coming, IRCAD Africa already here, and the Heart Institute under construction nearby, we know the influx will continue,” she adds. ALSO READ: Construction of new CHUK hospital premises at 80% With more people and developments coming, Uwera sees more opportunity. “More people mean more business. We are preparing to stock more to meet the needs of doctors, nurses, students, and patients. The demand is steady, and we can already feel how the neighbourhood is changing every week.” Seeing the suburb evolve Long-time residents recount this evolution in different keys. Pascal Buregeya, 62, born and raised in Murambi village, Masaka, remembers a time when land here had little monetary value. As a farmer and livestock keeper, he watched as plots that were once cheap and plentiful became scarce, fenced, and built upon. Coffee trees and banana groves gave way to apartment blocks and houses. “For years, the land here was not worth much,” Buregeya says. “People farmed. Children walked far to school, and there was no electricity in many houses. Now we have water, power, and clinics.” “The area is completely different. Young people are moving in, building, and renting. Land that once cost maybe Rwf500,000 per plot now goes for Rwf30 million or more. When CHUK and IRCAD Africa started coming up, people began to buy.” Buregeya reflects on the arc of change: infrastructure arrives first, roads, electricity and water follow, then services such as schools and clinics, then a population that reshapes the social and economic life of the area. ALSO READ: Govt earmarks 500ha in Masaka for Kigali medical hub He points out that children now attend nearby schools, as opposed to walking long distances before, families find healthcare closer, and the land itself is valued not just for farming but for opportunity. Commerce in motion Trade has evolved alongside population growth. Where a handful of small shops once served scattered residents, new stores and markets now staff long queues. Delivery trucks rumble in with cement and roofing sheets. Construction workers appear with toolboxes. Motorbikes ferry workers and tenants to shifts and appointments. For merchants like Jean-Claude Mazimpaka, a businessman dealing in clothing, shoes, and cosmetics, the change is practical. He arrived in Masaka when transport challenges limited his reach. Improved roads and rising demand have transformed trade. “Business used to be small,” Mazimpaka says. “Transport and infrastructure made it harder to reach customers. Now, more people are here, and there are more shops. We sell clothes, shoes, cosmetics, and household items,” he adds. “The hospitals, schools, and clinics bring clients who want convenience and can afford it. Every week we see new clients. Where once we sold a little, now we sell a lot. The future looks bright. People trust that services are coming, and they stay. That has changed everything,” Mazimpaka observes. For Uwera, trade has shifted similarly. Her Genesis Life Store started small but now meets the needs of a population connected to health facilities and the Medical City vision. Construction projects fuel demand for building materials. Rental apartments require furnishings, groceries, and convenience goods. Night-shift workers buy meals from alley stalls. The ecosystem of trade, transport, and services grows in tandem with urban expansion. “Before, I stocked the basics,” Uwera says. “Now we have imported snacks, household goods, paint, pipes, roofing nails. People want variety, and they buy regularly. When the health facilities open fully and research institutes start, the demand will grow. You can already see it: new buildings, new tenants, new faces every week.” The Medical City redefining Masaka Masaka’s transformation is tied to Kigali’s vision of a decentralised health and medical education hub. The government and partners are setting up a cluster major health infrastructure outside the city core, including the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), which is nearing completion, while the existing IRCAD Africa, the Heart Institute under construction, and affiliated research and training centres, are all reshaping Masaka. Land prices and housing demand have risen as these projects progress. Doctors, nurses, administrative staff, students, and construction workers need housing, shops, and transport. Residents feel the change in practical ways: long-time landowners consider subdividing or selling, and small traders anticipate new business. “For us, it means opportunity,” Uwera says. “We are not yet making the money we expect, but when the hospitals and research institutes are fully operational, more customers will come. People will need everything from food and medicine to paint and plumbing. We prepare because the city is arriving, not leaving.” Buregeya emphasises that the changes have ushered in family and stability. “My children are safer. They don’t have to walk long distances to school. Our home is connected by roads, water, and electricity, things my parents never had,” he says. “I won’t sell my land. Its value is rising, and we can preserve it for the family. It feels good to see it becoming a proper neighbourhood, not just farmland,” Buregeya, who has seen Masaka evolve, says. ALSO READ: Rwanda, Egypt ink deal to support modern heart centre in Kigali Emelienne Nyirabatoni, 63, observes social trade-offs with the fast transformation. “People used to live here because it was calm. Now, they come for services. That is good for some, hard for others. Rent has gone up,” she says. “Prices for basic things are higher. But access to clinics, schools, water, and electricity is much better. We trade quiet for convenience, and although life is busier, I see a benefit. My grandchildren go to school nearby and we can reach healthcare quickly. That is a huge change,” Nyirabatoni says. Challenges beneath the boom As Nyirabatoni says, rapid transformation carries trade-offs. Rising rents and land prices may exclude lower-income households. Roads, sanitation, water, and electricity must keep up with population growth. Traffic, noise, and transient populations can strain daily life. Planners face the task of balancing growth and liveability. Today, Masaka needs more roads in the neighbourhoods as more and more people move there. Local entrepreneurs adapt. Uwera increases stock to meet incoming demand. Mazimpaka diversifies and expands shipments. Small traders find customers more reliably. Yet infrastructure remains crucial. Uwera says that the growth should match infrastructure development for Masaka to maintain the trajectory. A lifetime on this land Buregeya recounts decades of slow progress punctuated by recent acceleration. Land once valued for subsistence now commands significant prices, with title deeds formalising ownership. “Now when people buy land, they do it with expectations,” Buregeya says. “They expect roads, water, electricity, clinics. That’s what makes people come. Villages become towns, and towns become cities. The change seems sudden, but it has been decades in the making.” ALSO READ: First Lady breaks ground on $20m Heart Care Center His observations highlight how schools, health facilities, and infrastructure shape social geography. Children walk shorter distances to school. Families split less time between farms and town jobs. Masaka’s identity evolves from rural to urban, quiet to ambitious. Betting on opportunity Entrepreneurs see practical reasons to invest. Mazimpaka spots rental opportunities, retail demand, and services for health workers. Uwera adjusts stock for household and construction needs. “People come for work, for hospitals, for clinics, and for schools,” Mazimpaka says. “We adapted to their needs. Where once we sold a little, now we sell a lot. The presence of doctors, nurses, and students means we can plan. This is not speculation; it is reality. Our customers are here, buying every day. That is the difference.” The medical infrastructure guarantees a steady flow of clients: employees, students, patients, and visitors. Short-term visitors fuel lodging demand. Predictable consumption patterns replace the uncertainty of seasonal agriculture or irregular markets. Masaka in transition Most residents see today’s Masaka as only the beginning. As facilities are completed, research and training expand, and workers, patients, and entrepreneurs arrive, demand for housing and services will grow. Hillsides may host more estates; apartments may replace houses; rental markets will diversify. Retail, offices, and clinics will multiply. Schools and nurseries will increase. Road and utility networks will need continuous upgrades. ALSO READ: Africa’s modern surgical training centre opens in Rwanda Local leaders and planners face choices: how to guide growth to benefit long-time residents and newcomers, how to provide affordable housing, public transport, waste management, and preserve social ties. A place of promise and hard choices For Uwera, opportunity is tangible: a growing customer base, new services, and a future that promises profit. For Mazimpaka, it is business expansion and adapting to demand. For Buregeya, it is family security and watching land take on new meaning. For Nyirabatoni, it is the trade-off between peace and convenience. They converge daily in a suburb being reinvented. Small shops stock imported snacks. Apartment blocks house nurses and students. Delivery trucks rumble with goods and construction materials. The sounds of learning and healing rise from clinics and campuses, in the land once roamed by goats and cows, or maize and sorghum grew. Masaka is no longer an escape from the city. It is a destination for purpose: health, work, and community. Its reinvention is not just physical. It is a rewriting of identity, right from outskirts to urban node, from farmland to health hub, from quiet to ambitious. It is a story of growth, adaptation, and possibility. Masaka’s quiet revolution can be seen by those who traverse the road to the east. Banana plantations were replaced by houses. The roads, roofs, shops, and clinics tell part of the tale, but the people at its heart tell even more. In the soil and scaffolding, in markets and medical centres, Masaka has found its groove and it is claiming its place on the map for Kigali, as one of the fast-growing suburbs.
